[Clayart] Surry viscosity measurement

[Joseph Herbert]

Hello,

To the surprise of few (?), the oil drilling industry goes to great pains
to measure properties of slurries. The density, viscosity, and sediment
content of the fluid that circulates down the drilling pipe to the tri-cone
drilling bit rotating at the bottom of the hole are important to the
efficiency and safety of the drilling process.  Consequently, there are
standardized ways to measure those properties.  The link below shows a kit
of instruments to make those measurements.

https://a.co/d/cpmLfwp

At least once a shift, and sometimes much more frequently, a rig hand (or
mud engineer) gets a sample of the fluid from the mud pit and measures its
properties. In some areas geologic processes have squeezed the rocks
sufficiently to increase the pressure of the contained fluid (petroleum,
gas, or water) above that expected from the existing water column. In early
days, breaching such a rock reservoir (using an open-hole drilling method)
resulted in a blow out gusher like the often pictured Spindletop well
blowout.

https://images.app.goo.gl/EjSsUVSG2ypEsSP67

With fluid-filled drilling methods, the density of the drilling fluid can
be adjusted (increased) to create a bottom hole pressure greater than
formation pressure and so avoid the danger and waste of a blowout.

On the other hand, too dense fluid can result in fluid loss into the
formation. Such loss, if not addressed, can also result in loss of control
of the well or irreparable damage to the rocks.

None of these dangers accompany measurement in our glaze buckets, but
failure to control slurry density can result in disappointment that is
personally nearly tragic.

Joe
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